John Buchan

Author profile

born

in Perth, Scotland, The United Kingdom

August 26, 1875

died

February 11, 1940

gender

male

website

http://www.johnbuchansociety.co.uk

genre

Literature & Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers, Biographies & Memoirs

influences

Robert Louis Stevenson, Walter Scott

About this author

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John Buchan (1st Baron Tweedsmuir) was a British novelist and public servant who combined a successful career as an author of thrillers, historical novels, histories and biographies with a parallel career in public life. At the time of his death he was Governor-General of Canada.

Buchan was born in Scotland and educated at Glasgow and Oxford Universities. After a brief career in law he went to South Africa in 1902 where he contributed to the reconstruction of the country following the Boer War. His love for South Africa is a recurring theme in his fiction.

On returning to Britain, Buchan built a successful career in publishing with Nelsons and Reuters. During the first world war, he was Director of Information in the British government. He w...more John Buchan (1st Baron Tweedsmuir) was a British novelist and public servant who combined a successful career as an author of thrillers, historical novels, histories and biographies with a parallel career in public life. At the time of his death he was Governor-General of Canada.

Buchan was born in Scotland and educated at Glasgow and Oxford Universities. After a brief career in law he went to South Africa in 1902 where he contributed to the reconstruction of the country following the Boer War. His love for South Africa is a recurring theme in his fiction.

On returning to Britain, Buchan built a successful career in publishing with Nelsons and Reuters. During the first world war, he was Director of Information in the British government. He wrote a twenty-four volume history of the war, which was later abridged.

Alongside his busy public life, Buchan wrote superb action novels, including the spy-catching adventures of Richard Hannay, whose exploits are described in The Thirty-Nine Steps, Greenmantle, Mr. Standfast, The Three Hostages, and The Island of Sheep.

Apart from Hannay, Buchan created two other leading characters in Dickson McCunn, the shrewd retired grocer who appears in Huntingtower, Castle Gay, and The House of the Four Winds; and the lawyer Sir Edward Leithen, who features in the The Power-House, John Macnab, The Dancing Floor, The Gap in the Curtain and Sick Heart River.

From 1927 to 1935 Buchan was Conservative M.P. for the Scottish Universities, and in 1935, on his appointment as Governor-General to Canada, he was made a peer, taking the title Baron Tweedsmuir. During these years he was still productive as a writer, and published notable historical biographies, such as Montrose, Sir Walter Scott, and Cromwell.

When he died in 1940, the world lost a fine statesman and story-teller.

The John Buchan Society was founded in 1979 to encourage continuing interest in his life, works and legacy. Visit the website (http://www.johnbuchansociety.co.uk) and follow the Society on Twitter (www.twitter.com/johnbuchansoc) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/johnbuchansociety).

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Buchan

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.(less)

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John Buchan's Books

Average rating: 3.65 · 11,483 ratings · 1,146 reviews · 203 distinct works · Similar authors

	The 39 Steps (Richard Hannay, #1) 3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 avg rating — 7,450 ratings — published 1915 — 224 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Greenmantle (Richard Hannay, #2) 3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 1,073 ratings — published 1916 — 83 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mr. Standfast (Richard Hannay, #3) 3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 394 ratings — published 1919 — 61 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Three Hostages (Richard Hannay #4) 3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 270 ratings — published 1924 — 18 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Prester John 3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 avg rating — 269 ratings — published 1910 — 50 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Island of Sheep (Richard Hannay, #5) 3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 avg rating — 221 ratings — published 1932 — 20 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	John Macnab (Sir Edward Leithen, #2) 4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 avg rating — 150 ratings — published 1925 — 15 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Four Adventures of Richard Hannay 4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 avg rating — 113 ratings — published 1919 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Huntingtower (Dickson McCunn, #1) 3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 135 ratings — published 1922 — 40 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Witch Wood 3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 98 ratings — published 1927 — 11 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by John Buchan…

Series by John Buchan

Richard Hannay (8 books)
by John Buchan
3.6356702538919654 of 5 stars 3.64 avg rating — 9,571 ratings

Sir Edward Leithen (5 books)
by John Buchan
3.8036117381489842 of 5 stars 3.80 avg rating — 443 ratings

Dickson McCunn (3 books)
by John Buchan
3.6964980544747084 of 5 stars 3.70 avg rating — 257 ratings

Quotes by John Buchan

“An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support.”
― John Buchan

27 people liked it

“He disliked emotion, not because he felt lightly, but because he felt deeply.”
― John Buchan

19 people liked it

“I am an ordinary sort of fellow, not braver than other people, but I hate to see a good man downed, and that long knife would not be the end of Scudder if I could play the game in his place.”
― John Buchan, The 39 Steps

tags: bravery, fortitude, knives, loyalty, men, murder, richard-hannay

9 people liked it

See all John Buchan's quotes »

Polls

Who, in your opinion, writes the most attention-keeping, easy-flowing story?

Jane Austen

289 votes, 37.8%

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock, of course)

278 votes, 36.4%

Charles Dickens

117 votes, 15.3%

Baroness Emmuska Orczy (Scarlet Pimpernel)

38 votes, 5.0%

Elizabeth Gaskell (Wives & Daughters, Cranford)

30 votes, 3.9%

John Buchan (Thirty-Nine Steps, Hannay series)

12 votes, 1.6%

764 total votes

19 comments

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